Carina on the Road

A lot has happened. Here’s a little story from Christchurch: I was standing at the traffic light when a girl rode up to me and started chatting, she was super sweet, yes she had a pizza left and normally she gives it to the 'junkies' but no one was there today, if I wanted it. I was a bit confused, but in the end I said yes and you wouldn’t believe how happy she was. She then apologized, saying that it must be really strange for me blabla whatever we both laughed and it was a nice moment. In a mall, an older lady approached me and complimented my tattoo on my ear, saying “awesome tattoo,” I almost cried. But here, it seems to be much more accepted because (I think I need to research this) many people here are even heavily tattooed on their faces with motifs related to Maori culture. Well, Christchurch was perfect for the start and I felt very comfortable, including the accommodation. I set off on the 24th, yes on foot for 2.5 hours to the point where I was supposed to pick up my car, next to the airport. But the sun was shining, I had time, so why not, you see so much of a city like this. Well, once I got there, I had a young dude who really had no clue about anything, then the manager Alex came, but he was so stressed, at least he took a moment for me. My remaining questions all went to the young guy, and mostly the answer was: oh I don’t know that. So I had very mixed feelings. Test drive and car all good. So I risked it for the biscuit and bought the car, and now I'm a lot poorer but a proud owner of a red little speedster that is self-contained. After a detour to the supermarket because I still needed a few things, I went to the hostel to pick up all my stuff. I somehow loaded everything into the car and was pretty satisfied. Well, to keep it short, I was too dumb to find the cigarette lighter and didn’t know how to charge my phone, but after a day of panic attacks, I found it and bought an adapter so I can charge my stuff now. It drives pretty poorly without GPS. Then I had my first tour to Akaroa to see the lighthouse, which I really wanted to see. It got dark while driving, but I saw a stunning sunset. Then I drove the curviest road of my life in pitch darkness. Only the next day did I see what I had driven through, through the mountains, with steep drops next to the road, good thing I didn’t know. Once I arrived, I just slept and had a beautiful starry sky. The next day I woke up and wow, the views were insane. The mountains around, and the sea/bay, I don’t know what you call it. Seagulls everywhere. I then walked to the lighthouse, about half an hour on foot, and there were so many little hikes you could do, I went up a bit on one track. The nature was so beautiful there and the sun was a dream. Once I had seen everything, I quickly went back to Christchurch where I bought the adapter. With a stop in the Canterbury Plains, where there were super cute cows, I headed to Timaru. Apparently, you can see penguins here in the evening. If so, you might get pictures in the coming days, but maybe I won’t see any either. The beach here is definitely beautiful as well. Tonight, I will just drive near Waimate to my sleeping spot.